The world prize for the book of the year of the Islamic Republic of Iran in February 2009

Arms and Armor from Iran: The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period by Dr. Manouchehr Moshtagh Khorasani wins the World Prize for the Book of the Year of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Iranian Studies in 2009.

Background of The World Prize for the Book of the Year of the Islamic Republic of Iran The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance founded “The Book of the Year of the Islamic Republic of Iran“ in 1983 and “The World Prize for the Book of the Year of the Islamic Republic of Iran” in 1993, with the aim of selecting and introducing international books, and honoring their creators as they have elevated the general knowledge and culture, and have profoundly developed public familiarity with the written heritage. Every year, according to this plan, books published within the year before in countries other than Iran in various languages are reviewed and the President’s special plaque of Commemoration and valuable prizes are awarded to the authors.

Report on the 16th Round of the World Prize for the Book of the Year of the Islamic Republic of IranIn this round, after the first selection of about 2000 book titles in different fields of Iranian and Islamic studies, 252 titles (78 titles in the field of Iranian Studies and 174 titles in the field of Islamic Studies) were selected for the next round (final stages) and were further evaulated by a panel of scholars from different universities in Iran and abroad. The evaluation of works in two fields was conducted on the basis of preliminary appraisal of the works on the basis of published lists of books, discussions with academics, research and publication centers as well as information dissemination centers, participation in the most reputable international book exhibitions and counseling with instructors and distinguished experts in the fields of the Iranian Studies and Islamic studies both in Iran and abroad.

The evaluated books in the field of Iranian Studies included Pre-Islamic Iran, Military Sciences, Ancient Iranian Civilization, Handicrafts, Art and Iranian Architecture, Literary Criticism, Persian Language and Literature, Persian Literature and Poetry, Iranian Sociology, Manuscripts Studies, the Contemporary History, and the History and Thoughts of the Islamic Revolution. The evaluated books in the field of Islamic Studies were in the areas of Behavior and Life of the Prophet, Islamic Economics, Scholastic Theology, Theology and Ethics, Translation of Quran, Jurisprudance and Islamic Law, Quranic Studies and Interpretaion, Philosophy and Gnosticism, Contemporary Islam, History of Islamic Civilization, Knowledge of Shiite Sources, Political Sciences in the World of Islam, Women’s Rights, the History of Science, Islamic Gnosticism, and Art and Islamic Architecture. From 252 tiles (78 titles in the field of Iranian Studies and 174 titles in the field of Islamic Studies) 13 were selected in the field of Iranian Studies and 10 were chosen in the Field of Islamic Studies as the final winners of the 16th Round of the World Prize for the Book of the Year of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Winners in the Iranian Studies Section

Arms and Armor from Iran: The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period by Dr. Manouchehr Moshtagh Khorasani (Independent Researcher).

Bactrian Documents (2 vs.) by Dr. Nicholas Sims-Williams (SOAS).

The Origin of the Indo-Iranians by Dr. Elena E. Kuz`mina (Moscow State University).

Science and Poetry in Medieval Persia: The Botany of Nizami`s Khamsa by Dr. Christine van Ruymbeke (University of Cambridge).

Forgotton Empire: The World of Ancient Persia by Dr. John Curtis and Dr. Nigel Tallis (The British Museum).
Iranología: Historia, Religion, Literatura by Dr. Juan Martos Quesada (Universidad Compultense de Madrid) and Seyed Ahmad Khezri (Iranian cultural attaché in Madrid).

Persian Wisdom in Arabic Garb: Ali B. Ubayda al-Rayhani and his Jawahir al-Kilam wa-Faraid al Hikam (2. vs.) by Dr. Mohsen Zakeri (Universität Frankfurt).

Iráni Föld-Perzsa Kultúra: Dr. István Nyitral (Budapest University).

The Collected Lyrics of Hafiz Shiraz by Dr. Peter Avery (University of Cambridge).

Rome and Persia in Late Antiquity by Dr. Beate Dignas (Sommerville College) and Dr. Engelbert Winter (Westfälische Wilhems-Universität Münster).

Modern Persian Literature in Afghanistan: Anomalous Visions of History and Form by Dr. Walli Ahmadi (University of California, Berkeley).

Falnameh: Livre Royal des Sorts by Armen Tokatlian (Independent Researcher).

Tapis’d Iran: Tissage and Techniques d’Aujourd’hui by Jean et Danielle Burkel (Independent Researcher).


Winners in the Islamic Studies Section

Fomun-e Al-She`r Farsi by Dr. Asad Abdolhadi Ghandil (University of Cairo).

Islamic Imperial Law by Dr. Benjamin Jokisch (Albert-Ludwig-Universität Freiburg).

The Path to Virtue: the Ethical Philosophy of al-Raghib al-Isfahani by Dr. Yasien Mohamed (University of the Western Cape).

Islam and Science: The Intellectual Career of Nizam al Din al-Nishaburi by Dr. Robert G. Morrison (Bowdoin College).

Scripturalist Islam: The History and Doctrines of Akhbari Shi’i School by Dr. Robert Gleave (University of Exeter).

Der Koran: Übersetzt und Kommentiert by Dr. Adel Theodor Khoury (Katholisch-Theologischen Fakultät der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität).

Al-Nogush al-Ketabiye al-Fatemiyeh Ali al-Maer Fi Mesr by Dr. Faraj Hussein Faraj al-Husseini (Alexandria University).